A woman woke up from a drunken sleep to find a man having sex with her.

Paul Owen, 40, wept openly when he was jailed for seven years for rape and sexual assault.

The attacks occurred on Deeside in April 2012. Owen, formerly of Sandycroft but who moved to Parrs Wood Road in Manchester, denied both offences but was unanimously convicted at Mold Crown Court.

Owen, who had previous convictions but nothing of a sexual nature, was placed on the sex offender register for life.

The judge, Mr Recorder Wyn Lloyd Jones, said that the defendant had tried to lie his way out of what he had done in the face of “overwhelming evidence”.

“You tried to pull the wool over the jury’s eyes. You did not succeed,” the judge told him.

Owen had taken advantage of a woman who was clearly under the influence of drink and therefore vulnerable. While she was asleep he imposed himself upon her. “This was a determined sexual attack for your own selfish sexual gratification,” the judge told him.

He had run a “cynical” line of defence and it was quite clear that the ordeal had a very great effect on the victim. “She is clearly traumatised by what happened, some two years later,” he said.

Owen received seven years for the rape and a concurrent three years for the sex assault, and became abusive towards the jury as he was led to the cells. Oliver King, defending, said that Owen was a father of three teenagers and it would be very difficult for him to be parted from them but appreciated that it had to be a substantial sentence.

The victim told the jury how she woke up to find the defendant having sex with her.

Prosecuting barrister Myles Wilson said that she had told him the following morning that while she had been drunk she did remember what he had done to her.

Owen denied anything had happened when interviewed by the police. But when her DNA was found on him, he changed his story and said while she slept she grabbed his hand and put it on her private parts. He said he pulled his hand away.

He had later used the toilet and said that was when her DNA must have been transferred.